[olug] AMD or Intel for multi-core apps?

[Obi-Wan]

I may be in the market for a new desktop CPU/mobo for the first time in
4.5 years.  I haven't kept up on CPU technology, so I need some advice.
TomsHardware.com used to compare CPU's, but no longer, it appears.

Most (but not all) of the CPU-intensive tasks that I perform (photography
related) are pretty well multi-threaded and operate on large datasets,
and should make good use of multiple cores.  Of course, there are still
some single-threaded operations that I'd like to speed up, too.

My current box has a 2-core AMD CPU, because the 4-core Phenom had just
come out and was still buggy at the time.

Philosophical issues aside, do you have any feel for whether I'd be
better off with an 4-core Intel i5/i7 or a 6-8-core AMD CPU?  Are the
individual cores of the i5 or i7 significantly faster than those of
the AMD?

I haven't done exhaustive research yet, but these CPU's have caught
my eye:

AMD FX 3.8GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) 6-core 125W, $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106010

AMD FX 3.6GHz 8-core 125W, $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103960

Intel i5 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) 4-core 77W, $215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115233

Intel i7 3.1GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) 4-core 65W, $305
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116503

The only 6-core i7 is out of my price range at $570.

-- 
Ben "Obi-Wan" Hollingsworth    obiwan at jedi.com    PrairieRimImages.com
   The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the
     Giver of all good things, so if I stand, let me stand on the
       promise that You will pull me through.  -- Rich Mullins